The NBA Finals will begin Thursday, June 4th, and it’s time to take a look at the two teams that will be battling in order to be crowned a champion:
Golden State Warriors: The Warriors have taken the league by storm up until this point. Golden State breezed through the regular season, going 67-15 in a loaded Western Conference. Many thought that the going would get tougher in the postseason, but the Warriors have dropped just three games in these playoffs. PG Stephen Curry (29.2 PPG, 6.4 APG, 4.9 RPG, 1.9 SPG in playoffs) averaged 31.2 PPG and 5.6 APG in the Western Conference Finals. He shot 49% from the outside in that series and is playing the best basketball of his career. He will be going up against Kyrie Irving, who is dealing with a number of injuries. If Curry can continue to pour it on offensively then it will be extremely tough for Cleveland to take this team down. SF Draymond Green (14.0 PPG, 10.8 RPG, 5.3 APG, 1.7 SPG, 1.2 BPG in playoffs) will be one of the most important players in this series. He’ll likely spend a lot of time guarding LeBron James and must hold his own if that is the case. Curry can do everything he wants offensively, but if the Warriors don’t find a way to stop LeBron then it will be tough to win the title. PF Marreese Speights (Calf) is out for another week or so and SG Klay Thompson (Concussion) is likely to play in Game 1.
Cleveland Cavaliers: Luckily for the Cavaliers, SF LeBron James (27.6 PPG, 10.4 RPG, 8.3 APG, 1.8 SPG, 1.3 BPG in playoffs) is playing his best basketball entering the Finals. He has made things even easier for the Cavaliers than the Warriors in this postseason, as the team has lost just two games in the entire playoffs. Even with PG Kyrie Irving (18.7 PPG, 3.7 APG, 1.1 SPG in playoffs) banged up and PF Kevin Love (16.4 PPG, 9.7 RPG in regular season) out for the remainder of the year, the Cavaliers swept the Atlanta Hawks last round. The Hawks were the top seed in the Eastern Conference and now NBA fans will get the Finals matchup they’ve been waiting for. None of it would be possible without James though, as he averaged 30.3 PPG, 11.0 RPG, 9.3 APG and 1.5 SPG against the Hawks last round. He looks healthy and is using his size and strength better than ever in the postseason. If the Warriors can’t find an answer for him then the Cavaliers will be hoisting the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy when everything comes to an end. As mentioned earlier, Kevin Love (Shoulder) is out for the season for Cleveland. C Anderson Varejao (Achilles) could be available in emergency spurts later in the series, but it’s more likely that he sits out the remainder of the year.
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